WEST CALDWELL — Perhaps it's fitting that in a season during which the competition near the top of Essex County was extremely close among the best girls soccer teams that Saturday night’s 35th ECT ended with co-champions. Third-seeded Livingston and fifth-seeded Montclair Kimberley Academy wound up sharing the crown after a 1-1 tie following two overtime periods contested on the pristine turf at Bonnel Field.

While Livingston (8-6-2) had to survive a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory vs. second-seeded Montclair in its semifinal Oct. 25, MKA (13-4-3) had to win on penalty kicks against top-seeded West Orange after being deadlocked, 2-2, through two 10-minute OT sessions.

And although Livingston dominated in terms of possession and shots on goal (14-1 edge), the tough and resilient Cougars were led by a stellar defensive core group spearheaded by the outstanding sophomore goalkeeper Arianna Jobst (13 saves).

Livingston earned its second straight ECT title and sixth overall. MKA won for the first time in just its second appearance in the final, having lost, 4-1, to neighboring Montclair in the 2015 title match.

“Champions are champions and it’s great to have a two-year run, especially for our seniors,” said Livingston coach Paul Raiz. “You have to given them (MKA) credit because they bent, but they didn’t break.

“It was sort of like our first game with them when we lost 1-0 (on Sept. 26) when I think we had 26 shots and 15 or 16 on target. Today, we had 14 on target. We played our game and created a lot chances. Sometimes the lid is on the goal in soccer and sometimes you score three or four goals, but that wasn’t the case tonight.

“MKA played hard and played tough and our girls played awesome and I’m proud of them!”

MKA broke a scoreless deadlock in the 61st minute when its top scorer, Villanova-bound senior Kerri McGuire (17 goals), chipped the ball into the net off a nice feed from junior Claire Shabaugh.

“Kerry has that fight in her,” said MKA coach Chrissy Welsh. “She is a competitor who battles out there every game.”

Livingston answered just seven minutes later when senior Christine Craiter blasted home a rebound after a solid shot on goal by the Lancers’ own Villanova commit, senior Tori Belcuore.

Jobst, who has emerged as a young star keeper on the countywide scene, had given up a goal; however, she was brilliant throughout the match.

“Ariana was fantastic again and the goal was unfortunate,” said Welsh. “I know she was upset about it, but the fact of the matter is she stood on her head the rest of the game.”

Also boosting the MKA strong defensive approach in front of Jobst was the work of consistently strong youngsters in the back led by junior Lily Pryor and Rylie Frieder, sophomore Alexis Riley and freshman Sarah Hobbs.

“They have been fantastic through this entire process,” said Welsh. “Plus, we have multiple kids on our team that don’t play outside of school; they don’t play club, they’re athletes, and they just compete and work really hard and I’m really proud of them.

“They’re willing to learn and do everything together.”

When MKA edged Livingston, 1-0, a month ago, it was also a match where the Lancers controlled possessions. However, thanks to a late McGuire goal it was a Cougars victory.

In Saturday night’s spirited county final, although Livingston again kept the ball in the Cougars' end of the pitch, there was a deadlock in the end. As the MKA coach points out - it's just part and parcel of what can indeed happen on any day or night in the game of soccer.

“Just like the last time we played them we didn’t have much possession,” explained Welsh. “When you watch soccer at every level all over the world there are games where teams do not have possession for majority of match and they still win. It doesn’t mean they are bad team lesser team it just means that day they don’t have possession.

“I said: ‘The way we’re going to score is on a counter,’ which we did; ‘or, on a set piece, and you have to be OK not having possession and be willing to just defend endlessly,’ and we did that.”

Livingston has developed nicely since starting off the season with a 3-2 loss to Montclair in early Super Essex Conference-American Division action plus a couple of tough independent setbacks to strong sides in Northern Highlands and Ridge. In addition, the Lancers were without their senior leader Belcuore for the first couple of weeks as she recovered from an injury, and then the team later lost standout junior goalkeeper Nicole Kwoczka - the star of the 2016 ECT championship when she helped blank Montclair, 1-0 – to a eye injury when she bruised her retina.

With Tori Belcuore’s return in late September, the infusion of energy from her two younger sisters, sophomore Savannah and freshman Lauren, plus stellar play from a number of other Lancers, including Kwoczka’s replacement in goal, senior Jocelyhn McCauley, the team has jelled at just the right time with the NJSIAA tournament scheduled to start Oct. 30.

“We knew we had a loaded schedule this year, playing Highlands and Ridge, plus the kind of teams in our (SEC-American) division, and we always wanted to be playing our best come county and state tourney time,” said Raiz. “And, I do think we’re playing our best soccer right now.

“Hopefully we’ll find the back of the net a little more and get on a roll!”

The fourth-seeded Lancers opened up North 1, Group 4 state action hosting 13th-seeded Bloomfield. On the horizon could be fifth-seeded West Orange.

“I anticipate that Bloomfield will be a good, scrappy team and we’re looking for a good match Monday,” the Livingston head mentor continued. “Hopefully it’s not a trap game for us. If we advance, West Orange could be there and we like the way we played against them.

“They are athletic, big and dangerous on set pieces so we have to continue to move the ball like we did tonight and create chances.

“North 2, Group 4 is really loaded, but I like the teams in our section with (top-seeded) Montclair, West Orange and (second-seeded) Morris Knolls, plus you always have (sixth-seeded) Kearny and (third-seeded) Clifton.”

For MKA, it’s another busy week with the Prep B tournament semifinal match against Morristown-Beard set for Oct. 30 perhaps followed by a championship game Nov. 1. Then there is the start of the North Non-Public B state tournament.

The second-seeded Cougars will meet the survivor of the first-round game between (10) Benedictine and (7) Newark Academy on Thursday at Van Brunt Field.

“If you had told me before we began this process that this is where we’d be I’d say you’re kidding me,” said Welsh “And, there is still a lot of soccer left to play.

“This is the first-ever county championship and it’s fantastic! Co-champions or not, these girls had to defeat the No. 4 seed (Glen Ridge in the quarters), the No. 1 seed (West Orange) and also play two extra games in the first couple of rounds.

"That's a feat and to do what we did to get here and do it with a smaller team is unbelievable!"